AREAS OF FRICTION: ADVERTISING PRESSURES. It is a fact of economic life that media outlets are dependent on advertising revenues for survival
It is a fact of economic life that media outlets are dependent on advertising revenues for survival. Increased competition, coupled with a soft economy in the 1990s, has created an environment where both media outlets and advertisers are willing to trade advertising for editorial space.
This is particularly true in the trade press and among specialized magazines. Beauty and fashion magazines, for example, are well known for running stories and fashion layouts that tend to feature their advertisers. Car magazines also have a penchant for reviewing cars that are advertised in them.
Supporting the publication through advertising and getting editorial plugs or features in return is also a good situation for fashion designers. For example, designer Michael Kors got his $10,000 cocktail dresses on the cover of Harper's Bazaar and immediately sold 15 of them.
Related to advertising pressures are the wining and dining of journalists for the express purpose of favorable coverage. One public relations firm gave beauty editors $200 worth traveler's checks and a free night at a first-class hotel in New York as part of promotion for a new Cover Girl product. L'Oreal took 15 leading beauty editors to Paris on the Concorde to visit the labs that created a new product.
Vocabulary:
be coupled with smth. – сочетаться с
coverage - освещение в печати
fashion layout - страницы моды
feature - помещать на видном месте
penchant - склонность (к ч.-л.), симпатия (к ч.-л.)
plug - реклама
put in a plug - рекламировать
revenue - доход
run a story - опубликовать статью
soft - зд. слабый, вялый, дряблый
survival - выживание
tend - иметь склонность к ч.-л., тяготеть к ч.-л.
wine and dine - угощать, потчевать, кормить-поить
Exercises
l)Find the words in the text which describe or mean the following:
to entertain someone well with a meal, wine etc.; money that a business or organization receives over a period of time, especially from selling goods or services; the way in which a subject or event is reported on television or radio, or in newspapers; a way of advertising a book, movie, idea etc, by talking about it publicly, especially on a television or radio program; a liking for something you do as a habit.
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2) Translate the following words and combinations into Russian. Use them in sentences of your own:
1. to survive, survival, survivor, survival kit, survival rate, survival of the Middle Ages;
2. to run business, to run for elections, to run out of money, to run ashore, to run temperature, to run into smb.
3) Translate the following sentences:
1. Companies spend millions wining and dining their clients.
2. CNN intends to have continuous live coverage of the national party conventions.
3. He put in a plug for his new building project on Thursday.
4. Rain forest destruction is threatening the cultural survival of the people living there.
5. The newspaper featured the murder story.
4) Match the words which are close in their meaning:
| related | connected |
| penchant | publish |
| willing | reluctant |
| run | fondness |
| dependent | enthusiastic |
5) Match the words having the opposite meaning:
| true | strong |
| related | reluctant |
| soft | diminished |
| willing | false |
| increase | alien |
6) Write down 5 questions to the text beginning with:
what...; why...; how...; where...; how much....
7) Can you explain the following:
Car magazines also have a penchant for reviewing cars that are advertised in them.
Related to advertising pressures are the wining and dining of journalists for the purpose of getting favorable coverage.
8) Agree or disagree:
It is natural that media outlets are dependent on advertising revenues for survival.
Make sure to use the following expressions:
Just so
Just the other way round
Quite so
Certainly not
I quite agree here
Surely not
Naturally
Nothing of the kind
Most likely
On the contrary
9) Write down one sentence summarizing the main idea of the text.
10) Prepare the topic Advertising pressures for retelling.
UNIT V
AREAS OF FRICTION: SLOPPY REPORTING
A survey by the American Management Association found that 83 percent of the public relations directors who participated thought that sloppiness on the part of reporters was the major reason for inaccurate stories. Reporters were also faulted for not doing their homework or research before writing a story and not understanding the topics they were writing about.
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The same criticisms are echoed by business executives. Most executives agree with the statement "If I talk to the press, I almost invariably get misquoted". Three-fourths of the respondents also agree with the statement "The knowledge base of business reporters leaves a lot to be desired". Other problems with the press, say the executives, are tendencies to sensationalize, to overemphasize the negative, and to make simplistic generalizations.
These surveys point up an important responsibility for you: it is part of your job to educate top executives about how the media operate and what they need to give a fair, objective story.
This education may include training executives to give a 30-second "soundbite" answer to a complex question and even how to handle aggressive reporters. At a more basic level, you have to teach executives that news reports are "first drafts of history" that occasionally get garbled or distorted as they go through several levels of personnel at a newspaper, magazine, or broadcasting outlet.
You also have to take into consideration that many reporters are generalists who have little or no background on the multitude of subjects they are asked to cover. When you are dealing with a reporter who is not familiar with your business or industry, you must explain the subject thoroughly and provide background material. This will help the reporter do a better job, and it gives you a reasonable chance to ensure that the story will be accurate.
Vocabulary:
background - образование, опыт
distort - искажать
echo - повторять
fault smb. - обвинять к.-л., критиковать
garble - коверкать
generalization - обобщение
handle smb. - справляться с к.-л.
invariably - неизменно
leave a lot to be desired - оставлять желать лучшего
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misquote - исказить ч.-л. слова
on smb's part -со стороны к.-л.
overemphasize - излишне подчеркивать
sensationalize - гнаться за сенсацией
simplistic - чрезмерно упрощенный
sloppy - неряшливый, небрежный
soundbite - краткая выдержка из речи, выступления, цитата в радио- и телепередачах
survey - опрос
Exercises
1) Find the English equivalents in the text. Use them in sentences of your own:
объективный; честный; иметь дело с к.-л.; неправильно прогнозировать; принимать участие; основная причина ч.-л.; критические замечания; склонность к ч.-л.; подчеркивать ответственность.
2) Find the words in the text which describe or mean the following:
a very short part of a speech or statement, especially made by a politician, that is broadcast on television or the radio; someone who answers questions; a set of questions that you ask a large number of people in order to find out about their opinions; to make a mistake in reporting what someone else has said.
3) Make up a few sentences with the following words and word-combinations:
to cover a subject, to take into consideration, to make a generalization, to make a survey, to provide background material.
4) Translate the following sentences into Russian:
The project has been faulted by some scientists who say it has little research value. The story has been sensationalized for the sole purpose of selling newspapers. He has a background in computer engineering.
5) Match the words which are close in their meaning:
| objective (adj) | manage |
| tendency | careless |
| handle | take part |
| sloppy | impartial |
| participate | trend |
6) Match the words having the opposite meaning:
| familiar | careless |
| occasionally | contradict |
| thoroughly | biased |
| agree | regularly |
| fair | superficially |
| accurate | unaware |
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7) Can you explain the following:
You have to teach executives that news reports are "first drafts of history" that occasionally get garbled or distorted as they go through several levels of personnel.
8) Agree or disagree:
A problem with the press are tendencies to sensationalize, to overemphasize the negative, and to make simplistic generalizations.
Many reporters are generalists who have little or no background on the multitude of subjects they are asked to cover.
Make sure to use the following expressions:
True enough
I'm not sure I quite agree
I couldn't agree more
I'm afraid I don't agree
Beyond all doubt
I'm not so sure
Looks like that
9) Render the following item in English:
Лучшей политикой общения со средствами массовой информации является ваше доверие к ним. Сообщайте прессе как можно больше, даже сведения о конфиденциальных материалах, а затем оговаривайте, какие разделы нельзя публиковать и почему. Популярная пресса обычно предпочитает сенсационные сообщения сообщениям о планомерном прогрессе, какое бы значение последние ни имели для процветания нации или региона. Тем не менее, существует много способов обратить на себя внимание печати, если осмыслить потребности газет и других периодических изданий. Пресса всегда будет приветствовать любую статью или заметку, содержащую элементы новостей, лишь бы этот материал был своевременным и точным.
10) Prepare the topic Sloppy reporting for retelling.
UNIT VI
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